Top five England players facing uncertain club futures
It is shaping up to be a busy summer for several members of the England squad as they gear up for Euro 2020 and potentially having to find a new club.
Amid mounting speculation over Danny Rose and John Stones’ futures at Tottenham and Manchester City respectively, we have put together a list of five players who could well feature for the Three Lions at the upcoming European Championships, based on Gareth Southgate’s recent selections, before moving on from their current teams.
1. Danny Rose
The obvious place to start with a player who looks almost certain to be allowed to leave the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium come the end of the season. Spurs boss Jose Mourinho has made it apparent the 29-year-old’s face no longer fits in north London, starting academy prospect Japhet Tanganga ahead of Rose in recent matches.
Rose couldn’t even make the squad for the goalless draw at Watford last weekend, despite training on Friday, and Tottenham look set to try and move him on. The former Leeds youngster has 18 months left on his contract and Tottenham will be desperate to avoid him running down his deal further, as Christian Eriksen and Jan Vertonghen have done.
A move abroad has previously been suggested for the left-back, who hasn’t been quite the same player since the knee injury he suffered in January 2017.
2. John Stones
The future looked so bright for Stones when Pep Guardiola made him one of his first signings as Manchester City boss. The ball-playing centre half had shown plenty of promise at Everton, earning him comparisons to World Cup winners Franz Beckenbauer and Gerard Pique.
However, after initially look good, Stones’ career has somewhat stalled and Guardiola has privately become increasingly frustrated with the 25-year-old, who hasn’t been helped by off-field issues and injuries.
Should City add a couple of centre halves and a few homegrown players in the summer, then they would reportedly be willing to listen to offers with Arsenal keeping a close eye on the situation.
3. Harry Winks
Hard to imagine Spurs letting a homegrown talent like Winks leave but Mourinho usually gets his way in these situations. At Chelsea, Mourinho was happy to let the likes of Kevin de Bruyne and Mohamed Salah leave, so why not Winks?
The 23-year-old has been in and out of the team since the Portuguese took charge and has reportedly been left confused by the role the ‘Special One’ wants him to play.
Should they put him up for sale then there won’t be a shortage of suitors with Manchester City known to be big fans.
Southgate is another admirer and is expected to lean on Winks heavily to keep his midfield ticking over at Euro 2020. He’ll have to hope Winks can keep his focus on matters on the pitch
4. Jesse Lingard
Lingard’s star has come crashing back down to earth over the last 18 months having peaked when producing some excellent displays for club and country in the build-up to and during the 2018 World Cup.
Fast-forward to now and the 27-year-old is struggling to get in the United team having registered just one goal and one assist in all competitions this season. United boss Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer has seemingly lost faith in the creative midfielder, who seems to have let life off the field distract him, and could look to cash in on him this summer.
5. Jadon Sancho
The last entry on this list is not so much a player out of form or struggling to catch his manager’s eye as one who is ready for a new challenge. Sancho appears to have his pick of where he will go next after deciding he will leave Borussia Dortmund at the end of this season. The 19-year-old has registered 27 goals and 37 assists in 80 appearances for BVB and has the world at his feet at this moment.
Dortmund will hope a strong showing at Euro 2020 means they can jack up the price for a player valued way in excess of £100million. Chelsea appear to be the front runners at this time but Manchester United, Barcelona and Liverpool have all been mentioned as possible landing spots for the exciting teenager
